The present invention relates to an object having multiple radial projections which rotate about the center of the object, such as a ceiling fan, and, more particularly, to methods of balancing the object to reduce unwanted movement or wobble.
Any ceiling fan, which operates in a condition where its center of rotating mass does not correspond to its axis of rotation, will exhibit a degree of orbiting proportional to the amount of rotational imbalance and to the square of rotational speed. This orbit or fan wobble can only be corrected by adding weight that will move the center of mass closer toward the center of rotation. The process to achieve this is commonly referred to as balancing.
Traditionally, the process of balancing a fan is that of trial and error. The process has two parts: (1) finding the blade or blades that require the corrective weight; (2) determining the proper location of the weight on the blade(s) to provide the proper influence necessary to bring the center of rotating mass back to the axis of rotation.
To find the blade requiring the corrective weight, first the fan is operated in its uncorrected state and the amount of fan wobble is observed. Then, as a trial weight is placed on each blade, the fan is operated with each blade weight placement, and the effect of the trial weight is observed. A note is made of which blade or blades seem to have an effect on reducing the fan wobble.
Once the blade or blades that have reduced the amount fan wobble are identified, the trial weight can then be moved along the length of the blade to find the location that minimizes the orbit or wobble of the fan.
Each placement of the trial weight requires a start-up and subsequent shut down of the ceiling fan therefore making the balancing process time consuming. Combined with the subjective observation as to the degree of orbiting or fan wobble, a ceiling fan is unlikely to ever operate in a mode where the fan wobble has been truly minimized.